Engineering, procurement and construction consultant Worley will support Avantium in its new bioplastics facility, based in Delfzijl, the Netherlands.
Ronny Benjamins Bedrijfsfotografie
Worley to provide engineering services for Avantium bioplastics facility
Avantium’s bioplastics facility will produce plant-based furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a key building block for many chemicals and plastics, such as polyethylene furanoate (PEF). Hailed as ‘the world’s first facility to produce FDCA on a commercial scale’, the Delfzijl will operate at a capacity of five kilotonnes per year and will be the commercial proof for future larger-scale developments.
In January 2021, Worley announced a strategic partnership with Avantium, acquiring a shareholding in Avantium in return for a €10m equity investment with a risk-sharing mechanism over the EPC phase of the FDCA plant.
Following the recent positive final investment decision, Worley signed a technology co-operation agreement with Avantium and will now deliver EPC services to develop the facility.
The work will be carried out from Worley’s offices in the Netherlands and Belgium, with support from its Global Integrated Delivery (GID) team in India.
A ceremony was held on 20 April to mark the first piling works, representing the beginning of the construction of the plant. Construction is planned to be completed by the end of 2023, enabling the commercial launch of PEF from 2024 onwards.
Tom van Aken, Avantium CEO, said: “We are very pleased that Worley has become a minority shareholder in our subsidiary Avantium Renewable Polymers. Avantium believes that the confidence in the project demonstrated by Worley and their substantial experience in scaling-up to industrial plants adds strength and credibility to Avantium’s technology and licensing proposition.”
Mark Brantley, Group President EMEA and APAC, Worley, added: “We’ve worked with Avantium over the last years in the scale-up to commercial scale for its flagship facility and this marks an important milestone in the project as we evolve to the next phase. We value our partnerships with our customers as we help deliver first-of-a-kind facilities that will produce the materials and products for a more sustainable world.”